SharePoint 2016 huh?!
(Long time since I last posted anything real here…)

Actually, this post is by popular demand This is the 2016 version of the post a wrote when SHarePoint 2013 was new, as you can see, not much has changed…I have updated a few lines with what I know now that I did not know then, thats it. Please let me know if I missed something.

The recommended approach is to create a GPO with these firewall rules and apply that rule to the SharePoint servers in your farm. Add all of them, best that way to avoid extreme t-shooting in the future.

Another but related recommendation is to configure the Loopback check funktion in Windows server to allow the FQDN’s of your web applications (Use the Loopback check tool).

List of ports used by SharePoint 2013 and its related services.
Reference links at the end.

Short story: The OneDrive for Business improvements are here!

This was promised to us a long time ago, and it has now finally come to be. At the same time, the 20.000 file limit from before has also been removed (Improved)
Here is the proof:

The file was in addition, uploaded using the new OneDrive sync client!
(Dropped the file in the local cache and let the sync do its stuff)

The OneDrive for Business Next Generation Sync Client is available for Windows 7, 8 and 10 (8.1 support will be added in the first quarter of 2016) and Mac OS X 10.9 and above.

Storage, rolling out is an increase from 1TB to 5TB, upon request, more will be made available until unlimited is achieved? (Valid for: Enterprise E3, E4 and E5, Government E3, E4 and E5, Education, OneDrive for Business Plan 2 and SharePoint Online Plan 2)

10GB filesize limit

No more 20.000 file limit

!! With this first release of several, the Next Generation Sync Client supports OneDrive for Business only, but we will add support for SharePoint document libraries in future releases. (This is the best news in a long time)

In the interim, if customers require sync for both OneDrive for Business and SharePoint document libraries, the Next Generation Sync Client is designed to work side-by-side with the existing sync client.

the OneDrive for iOS app will support offline storage. You can selectively flag files for local availability and open them when disconnected

Missing Web Parts with custom script disabled…

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The Custom Script setting (Default disabled)

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As I have posted about before, during the end of 2014, beginning of 2015, a new security feature in SharePoint Online has been rolled out. The feature in itself is a great security feature if that is what you want.

Missing example:

Expected webparts:

Note: changes to this setting might take up to 24 hours to take effect.

In my previous post on this setting, I listed the missing features, however this is not all that will go missing. In addition, quite a few webparts will be gone from your SharePoint Online environment. This may or may not be expected by you and your users/editors/developers…
Below is the list of webparts that you will not find with the Custom script setting off/disabled.

Office 365 experience on iOS7 devices is changing

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In case you have not seen this small note, it may not affect a lot of people but for those of you out there on older iOS devices or that supports those units in your organizations, it may be important.

Details (Official Microsoft statement):
Microsoft are making some changes to the Office apps on iOS 7 devices. Beginning when Apple releases iOS 9, they will release updates to Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint that will only work on iOS 8 and above. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote will no longer receive updates on iOS 7, but will continue to function with a degrading experience over time.
Microsoft strongly suggest communicating to your end users and recommend upgrading to iOS 8 or above.

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Credits

Myself, I get all the credit this time!

References

Did not find this statement at any official sites, this was announced in the Office 365 Message Center

Yes! SharePoint Server 2016 has finally been released as a preview installation

Long awaited for, longed for by many, feared by the competition…

On the 24th of august, Microsoft released a preview of the next generation of SharePoint onprem, SharePoint Server 2016. Last I Heard, the release is due sometime Q1 – Q2 of 2015.
Make sure that you have room, the ISO alone is 2.84GB in size…

Prerequisites, it will run on

•Windows Server 2012 R2
•Windows Server Technical Preview 2

About the Product from Microsoft

‘SharePoint Server 2016 IT Preview has been designed, developed, and tested with the Microsoft Software as a Service (SaaS) strategy at its’ core.
Drawing extensively from that experience, SharePoint Server 2016 IT Preview is designed to help you achieve new levels of reliability and performance, delivering features and capabilities that simplify administration, protect communications and information, and empower users while meeting their demands for greater business mobility.
You can choose from a traditional on-premises deployment, a hosted service with Microsoft Office 365 sites powered by Microsoft SharePoint Online, deployment in Azure Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), or a mix of these options with a hybrid approach, enabling you to enrich traditional on-premises scenarios with the innovation in the cloud.
Need more information about SharePoint Server 2016 IT Preview? See the product details page.SharePoint Server 2016 IT Preview builds on the investments of previous SharePoint releases to help:
1.Lower IT costs with a cloud inspired infrastructure and scalable collaboration platform
2.Better manage risk by safeguarding your business with secure and reliable capabilities
3.Deliver modern collaboration experiences across devices and screens’

To install SharePoint Server Preview

1.Review SharePoint Server 2013 system requirements
2.Download and install full-featured software for a 180-day trial
3.When prompted, use the following product key: NQTMW-K63MQ-39G6H-B2CH9-FRDWJ

Office 365 feature comparison chart all plans
(All in one Place)

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This is an updated version of a popular blogpost that I posted in January 2013. It turned out to be one of the most visited posts and it still is (This one). This time I have updated the feature comparison list to show what is included in the different Office 365 plans and subscription levels that are available. It is not easy to find the information when you are looking to buy just the right plan for your organization.
My primary goal with this post is to again make it just a little bit easier to find what feature is included in what plan, what functionality is avaiable in which plan and most importantly, where is SharePoint Online included?

The complete Office 365 subscription plan comparison list

(Remember that the content in every license plan can be subject to change at any time)

Note:1 Project Online is not included, but can be purchased as a separate add-on service. 2 Yammer Enterprise is not a component of Office 365 Government, but may be acquired at no cost as a standalone offer for each user licensed for Office 365 Government Plan E1, E3 and E4. This offer is currently limited to customers which purchase Office 365 Government under Enterprise Agreement and Enterprise Subscription Agreements. 3 Azure RMS is not included, but can be purchased as a separate add-on service. 4 To learn more about which RMS features are included with Office 365 plans, see Comparison of Rights Management Services (RMS) Offerings 5 Office Delve will become available for the Office 365 Business Essentials and Office 365 Business Premium plans in early 2015.6 Office 365 Video is not available with the following plans: Office 365 Government E1, Office 365 Government E3, Office 365 Government E4

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Changing or mixing plansAs the needs of your organization change, you may need to change your Office 365 plan. You can switch from your current Office 365 subscription to another Office 365 subscription: – In the same service family: For example, you can move from Office 365 Business Essentials to Office 365 Business Premium, or from Office 365 Enterprise E1 to Office 365 Enterprise E3. – From a standalone plan: For example, you can move from Exchange Online Plan 1 to Office 365 Enterprise E1. – To a different service family: For example, you can move from Office 365 Business Essentials to Office 365 Enterprise E3.For information about how to change subscriptions, including how to move from a trial to a paid subscription, see Switch to a different Office 365 plan or subscription.

You can combine Enterprise, Business and standalone plans (e.g. Exchange Online Plan 1) within a single Office 365 account. However, existing limitations on the number of seats per plan do not change. For example, you can have up to 300 seats per plan on both Office 365 Business Essentials and Office 365 Business Premium, but an unlimited number of users on Exchange Online Plan 1. Education and Government plans cannot be combined with Enterprise, Business or standalone plans.

Note:1 Lync 2013 Basic is available for all customers. The Lync Basic desktop client is a locally installed application that provides presence, instant messaging and conferencing features for Office 365 plans that include Skype for Business Online. Office 365 ProPlus, Office 365 Enterprise E3 and Office 365 Enterprise E4 include the full Lync application, which include additional features including advanced telephony support, archiving & compliance features. A Skype for Business Online license must be assigned for each user. For more information on Lync Basic features, see Clients for Skype for Business Online.

Note:1 Archiving and compliance features are supported with this version of Office, but the Exchange Online and SharePoint Online plans are not included and must be purchased separately or used with supported on-premises server equivalents.
2 Azure Rights Management (RMS) isn’t included but can be purchased as a separate add-on in order to enable the supported IRM features.
3 Windows Server AD RMS is an on-premises server that must be purchased and managed separately in order to enable the supported IRM features.
4 If you have Office Professional Plus 2013 or a standalone version of Excel 2013, you can download and use the Power Map Preview for Excel 2013 as an unsupported add-in.

Note:1 Workflow 2013 is not yet available in Office 365 Government E1, Office 365 Government E3, or Office 365 Government E4 plans.
2 Access Services is currently not available for the following plans: Office 365 Government E1, Office 365 Government E3, Office 365 Government E4, Office 365 Government K1

1 To use folder sync, you must have Office 2013 (Standard or Professional edition) or an Office 365 subscription that includes Office applications. Office 365 Business Essentials, Office 365 Enterprise E1, Office 365 Education E1, and Office 365 Government E1 plans don’t include subscriptions to Office 2013. However, you can use folder sync if you have Office 2013 installed and subscribe to one of these plans.2 Kiosk accounts have limited OneDrive for Business functionality. Kiosk customers can use the OneDrive for Business folder sync client application to sync team site document libraries with a shared computer and access documents offline. But kiosk accounts do not include a OneDrive for Business Personal Site, so they do not benefit from a OneDrive for Business personal library with 1 TB of online storage.3 Azure Rights Management (RMS) is not included, but can be purchased as a separate add-in order to enable supported IRM features.
4 Because Kiosk users can’t be administrators, tenants with Kiosk users need at least one Enterprise user to access the admin center.
5 When you use eDiscovery features, the licensing requirement for a plan that permits that feature applies to all end users that are part of the eDiscovery action (Search, Hold, Export).6 Authenticated SharePoint Online users can access private site collections with faceted navigation.

First release can now be offered to a select group of users!

(Including a funny mistake by a Microsoft developer)

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Life made even simpler for the admins

First release has until now been something that you do not want to enable in a production tenant for the organization, because the impact can be to big with untested changes and additions made regularly.
The common option for the administrator thirsting for knowledge has been to create an evaluation tenant and enable First Release there.
Cumbersome and difficult…is what that was!
A drawback has also been that you could not test anything with the real users, real data or real life scenarios.

No more so, now, the option to enable First Release for only selected users are available.

This is how you do it:

1. Log into your tenants Admin portal: https://portal.office.com/admin/default.aspx2. Go to Service Settings, Updates.3. Under First Release, check Select People, you will get a popup asking if you are sure, click Yes.4. Locate the users you want to set as first release users.5. Select the users in the box below and click on save (It does not have to be administrators).5.5 Bulk update (You can also create a list of UPN’s and sumbit it as a bulk update.)6. Done!7. Undo

It is a preview, not fully operational yet but as many of you have seen, it works remarkably well!
Microsoft uses Sway in a lot of their presentations and they look great
I can give you a great example, at Ignite, Mark Kashman held a session the last day where he recapped all SharePoint content during the Conference in a Sway: http://aka.ms/sharepointUNPLUGGED

Try it out, remember that there are a few limitations though.
– I have found the ‘Import from PowerPoint’ to be really bad, it imports all objects one by one as a ‘slide’. Try it out and see for yourselves.
– Also, every time you press ‘Get started’ a new Sway is created, even you you do nothing more it will show up in the list.

In Sway preview you can set the permissions to be:
– Public
– People with the link
– My organization (Everyone)
– Just me
For now, this is fine, but eventually we will want to be able to add Groups of users or a select few.

You can add content easily be searching for it and just drag and drop it to the Sway Surface.

If you don’t like the design and don’t feel like spending time on making it just right, use the ‘Remix’ button.

Remix will apply a new design to the entire Sway, Headers, Colors, Formatting and all.